A few weeks ago we celebrated my mother’s birthday at the Thai restaurant Kinkao, situated on the Isle of Dogs. The restaurant used to be called Elephant Royale and my family and I had visited on numerous occasions. They recently went through a rebrand and the restaurant is now under new management. The menu is completely different to what it used to be, but we weren’t disappointed with the options.
We had a party of about 20 people and customer service was on point from the moment we booked to the moment we left. Friendly, warm staff that catered to all of our requests – and believe me, we had quite a few. This was a surprised birthday dinner for my mum and we were pleased to see that the restaurant was empty (which I know is never a good sign but it did start to fill up later in the evening!) and so we were able to carry out our surprise perfectly, shouting “SURPRISE!” when she arrived without disturbing anybody.
The menu is very, very elaborate – huge choice of food, which can bring a little confusion if you’re not familiar with Thai dishes. Ask as many questions as you need – members of staff are always happy to help.
You will find mixed reviews on TripAdvisor – not everyone is happy with the rebrand. But generally speaking I think they’ve managed to maintain a good standard of food and service. I can’t remember exactly what each dish was called but I’ve posted some photos below for you to take a look. Everything was cooked to perfection, full of flavour – the seafood options especially were to die for.
The prices are reasonable for a restaurant of this standing, and for the size of the portions – absolutely huge, you will not leave hungry.
Take a look at their website for more information: KINKAO.
À la Waïki 